Fujiyama!

Before I begin today's adventure, I have to write about last night's dinner. Since everything else we wanted to go to was closed, we took the advice of the information lady. She told us of a traditional Japanese restaurant around the corner from the hotel. Since it was beyond a construction site, I am not sure we would have found it on our own. There claim to fame is the Japaese yam. They make a sort of gruel paste that is poured over rice. We also chose the dried fish which was very good. Although the food was not seasoned a lot, it was all very tasty. Definitely a new experience for us.  After dinner, we went back and filled up the bath with natural hot spring water and had a well deserved soak before bed.

OMG, Wow, amazing, awesome, magnificent, majestic - there are just not enough adjectives to describe today's beauty. It started when we opened our eyes to bright blue skies. Things were definitely looking up from yesterday's gloom. We didn't want to waste a minute of sunshine, so we dressed and went down to see what breakfast was about.

Well, it didn't take us long to figure out that we were paying far too much money for very little food that we wanted to eat. Talked it over with the front desk and had them remove the breakfast plan. Turns out they were charging close to $50/day for the breakfast. Initially, I had booked the breakfast thinking that the hotel was in the sticks somewhere. Turns out it is very close to lots of shops and cafes. Pastry and coffee will do just fine. Speaking of coffee, I know I mentioned the beer vending machines. Well, yesterday we discovered that all the coffee vending machines actually give you hot coffee. We thought they were all a kind of rocket fuel, Red Bull thing. But, in fact, they are different kinds of coffee - black, latte, milk, sugar, etc. Of course, usually we can't understand which is which, so we just pick one and hope for the best. They all taste great and are pretty cheap.  

It was smart getting an early start, there were hardly any people around. We took out our Hakone Free Pass and got aboard the local railway station which takes you to the cable car which takes you to a gondola (or ropeway, they call them) then another gondola and another gondola which eventually takes you down to the lake for a boat cruise. You then reverse the process to get back. The views of Mt. Fuji were just incredible. The sky could not have been clearer. At the top, at Owakudani ,there are many hot springs. They are famous for their black eggs. They are boiled in the natural spring water so they turn black.

You can see Mt. Fuji from the gondolas, at Owakudani, and from the boat cruise. The views are just beautiful. We could not have asked for a better way to end our adventure. Having the pass made going through very easy - no stopping to get tickets along the way. There were few tourists when we left, but as we started the coming back the crowds were growing - so were the clouds. You could see the clouds starting to surround the mountain. We hit it at the perfect time.


We went back down to Gora, where you pick up the first gondola, and stopped to have lunch. Found a small Japanese soba place that was cheap and excellent. Next, we got off the train a station before ours and thought we would go to the Open Air Museum. Big bucks for this, so we opted out. The sun went in and it was a bit too cold to pay a lot of money to walk around outside. Maybe next time. Took the train back to the hotel. Sun came back out so we took advantage and walked around the gardens and green house of the hotel.

Now resting before going out to dinner. Hope to get into the tempura restaurant since the sushi place is closed. We'll see.

Best meal ever!! This place is simply amazing. It is a small mom & pop operation. She runs around serving and taking orders and he quietly cooks the tempura (without getting a bit of grease anywhere near him). We were fortunate to get the last two seats at the tempura bar to watch the master at work. Everything was so very fresh and tender. All fish, so we didn't have to worry about pork or chicken. It was a set menu which consisted of shrimp, eel, squid wrapped in mint, asparagus, baby corn, mushroom, Japanese plum, and scallops (which were to die for) all fried in a tempura batter that was the best we have ever tasted - plus miso soup, pickles, and rice. Now we are grateful that the sushi restaurant was closed. We would have by-passed this place. Truly a wonderful evening to top off a wonderful day.

This is our final good-night from the Far East. Be back home tomorrow night. 

Next time...Sayonara Japan